Company pilot John F. Martin (and crew) make the first flight of the Douglas C-54 at Clover Field, Santa Monica, Calif. This long range heavy transport will gain fame in World War II, the Berlin Airlift, and the Korean War.
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.